Hi,

I'm a Bay Area resident with house temps in the mid-high 60's most of the year (not this week, though, phew!). I keep my snakes in a closed room with a ceramic space heater to maintain temps around 78-80. I just got my first rack with belly heat - a closed one, as suggested above - and I plan to insulate it with foam core or something before winter. It also needs something between the base and the hardwood floor - will probably start with a carpet remnant/padding and see how that goes.

I spend a lot of time thinking about ambient temp issues and would rather not be using a room heater 24/7/365, but with tubs and now a rack, it seems like that's what it takes. I'll probably switch to an oil-filled heater before winter. Good luck!